Brooklawn Park receives an orchard

NEW BEDFORD — Brooklawn Park in the city's North End now has a group of small fruit trees, with just a few leaves on them yet.

CAROL KOZMA

NEW BEDFORD — Brooklawn Park in the city's North End now has a group of small fruit trees, with just a few leaves on them yet.

The park received the orchard through a Connecting for Change contest from the Marion Institute and Rain Forest Maker.

Two parks benefited from the contest, said Brooke Baptiste, Connecting for Change manager: Brooklawn Park and Home for Little Wanderers in Walpole.

About 20 groups in Massachusetts applied for the possible orchard, including the city's Parks and Recreation Department. New Bedford won because it is "plugged into the community," and because the institute is confident members will care for the trees over the years, Baptiste said.

The partnership between the institute and Rain Forest Maker started a few years back when the groups worked together to plant trees in Colombia.

Jeffrey Glassman, founder of Rain Forest Maker, said of the group, "We plant a lot of trees down in the tropics, Central and South America."

Desa Van Laarhoven, the executive director at the institute, and Glassman then discussed the possibility of helping out the local community.

It will take five to 10 years for the apple, plum and cherry trees to bear fruit, Baptiste said.

"We try to plant young trees, because they will acclimate to the soil a little bit better," she said.

"The hope is that years down the line, that children in the community can come and harvest (fruit) and make jams, make pies ... have healthier eating."

Between 15 and 20 people, including members of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, Rain Forest Maker and the Marion Institute came out to plant the trees.

Mary Rapoza, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, gave a short demonstration on how to plant the trees, and then volunteers picked up their own shovels and started digging.

The trees and supplies came from Lowe's and Home Depot at a discounted price, Baptiste said.

Cindy Haskell, who works for Advanced Marine Technology, poured Organic Gem, a liquid fertilizer made and donated for the effort by the company, over the soil where the trees were planted.

"I really believe this is awesome, rejuvenating the community and planting the trees," Haskell said.

Geoff Kinder of Dartmouth, who lives with Van Laarhoven, said he came out to plant trees because it was something he believed in.

When asked to define that belief, he said: "connecting humans to the food that they eat, and embracing meaningful productive work, (and) taking part in ecological process."